Taking their place
by Qassy
Summary: When Amy, Rory and the Doctor find themselves in trouble, the Doctor chooses to save his companions from the locals' punishment. Doctor!whump


**Hi! I hope you enjoy reading this story, let me know what you think!**

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They were striding peacefully, when suddenly a siren started to blare loudly. Before they could do anything, they were surrounded by angry-looking locals. Despite their struggles, they were taken away, hands tightly bound behind their back. The Doctor had just enough time to whisper to Amy and Rory: 'Whatever happens, don't say anything!'

They were dragged through a huge crowd, all of them were shouting at them and shook their fists as if they were the most cruel criminals. Finally they stood in front of someone who seemed to be the chief, sitting in a throne in the middle of the crowd. Everyone stood silently, then the chief spoke out: 'You committed the most serious crime in our society, you crossed the borders of the holy temple of Maz'm. It requires an equally serious punishment to all three of you.'

With that, he nodded to the soldiers but the Doctor shouted: 'Great Chief, may I speak?' The Chief nodded 'We are travellers from faraway lands and it was not our intention to desecrate your most holy temple. But I am the leader of this small group; I am responsible for our mistake. As such, please allow me to take their punishment.' Everyone started to talk at once: the people to each other, they have never seen anything like this. Amy and Rory cried 'No' and 'Don't do this' simultaneously. But the Doctor just looked right into the eyes of the Chief, who looked back and saw the determination there.

'Do you know the extent of the punishment?'

'Yes, I know'. The Chief sneered; it would be interesting too this young man break down and beg that his companions take all of the punishment.

'Go on then!'

Amy and Rory were pushed away to the side, soldiers still holding them. The Doctor had just enough time to shout: 'Stay put, don't look!'

Rough hands removed his jacket then his shirt, braces and bowtie, too. The chill reached his exposed upper body but he knew that was the least of his worries now. He was bound to two large poles, his arms stretched up and away from his body, probably to give the most chance for his tormentor to reach every inch of him. Then a whip was brought out. Amy already felt like crying.

A huge soldier stood behind the Doctor and started to strike him. The whip instantly left a large welt on his back. He refused to cry out, but his grunts became louder and louder. After about ten strokes his skin started to brake and more and more blood appeared. It wasn't only his back that suffered the whipping, but also his sides, and when he got bored, the torturer went in front of him and started to whip his chest and stomach. This went on and on and on, his grunts became screams; and any remaining skin disappeared in the rivulets of blood. Amy was openly crying now. Then the Doctor quieted, screams just grunts, knees buckled, hanging by his also bleeding wrists.

Finally they stopped; the only sound the Doctor's shaky breaths and Amy's soft sniffs. A few buckets of cold water were poured onto the Doctor, probably to awaken him to suffer more.

'You will remain here until the morning as an example' – said the Chief. Amy and Rory were tied to other poles, with their back against them, not stretched like the Doctor. The Chief pointed at them 'Don't hurt them! Let him have his sacrifice thoroughly. Oh, and I know you are a Time Lord, but don't worry, you won't be able to heal from this whip. You know, we've met your kind before and prepared well' – he smirked and left. Amy and Rory didn't know what that meant: would he heal as slowly as a human? And would they hurt the Doctor further?

Some of the people from the crowd left too, but some of them went up to the Doctor. They mocked him, slapped him, and even punched him in the stomach or back. Others pressed their fingers into his deepest wounds or grabbed his hair, forced his head back and whispered menace into his ear. When he finally found his footing, his legs were quickly kicked out from under him. This went on for all the night: some people came, hurt him and left, until others came around a few minutes later just to hurt him more and occasionally waking him with freezing water. Fortunately they got tired so towards dawn less and less people came, leaving the Doctor semi-conscious, hanging from his wrists.

The Chief came back in the morning, satisfied to find the Doctor in such a state. One of the soldiers grabbed his hair to force him to look at the Chief. 'You are free to go now, but don't you ever return here!' The Doctor smiled internally: in just 200 years, he is going to save the planet from a Dalek invasion. In fact, he wanted to land after that, but he landed in the wrong time. Again.

The soldiers cut all of them loose, not bothering to catch the Doctor from falling heavily on the ground. And they just left, leaving Amy and Rory to take on arm each over their shoulder and support their best friend back to the safety of the Tardis.

Once they were inside, they immediately headed for the infirmary. The Doctor collapsed to the ground on his knees. Amy held him, gently stroking his hair while Rory cleaned all his wounds and dressed them neatly. Then they helped him to one of the beds. He took in a sharp breath when laid on his back, but there really was no choice. He whispered a silent 'Thank you' and fell asleep. Normally, Amy and Rory knew from experience, the Doctor would fall into a healing coma for days, then wake up as if nothing even happened. This was not the case, this time he really did heal as slowly and painfully as a human, waking up to the pain in his whole body. Amy and Rory were there with him all the time, watching him, taking care of him. After a few days, his wounds closed so if he didn't move too much, he could get out from the bed. He was unusually quiet, not flapping his hands around all the time and not suggesting any adventures for a while. Fortunately he got better and better, needed less sleep and his cheerfulness came back too. His wounds faded into scars which would eventually disappear, he said. They first went on to a nice and quiet planet, just enjoying the wonders of the universe.

A few weeks after the whipping Rory came up to him to the console. He just stood there for a few minutes, then asked quietly: 'Have you ever regretted? Taking our place I mean' The Doctor smiled softly 'No. Not for a second'.

'Thank you. Especially for taking care of Amy'

'Don't worry, Rory. I will never let anyone harm Amy or you.'


End file.
